Volume 32 Refuge Number 2

Introduction

The Indochinese Refugee Movement and the Launch of Canada’s Private Sponsorship Program

Michael J. Molloy and James C. Simeon

his special issue of Refuge comes as Canada is receiv- of two acclaimed novels, Vincent Lam’s The Headmasters ing a second tranche of Syrian refugees processed in Wager and Kim Thuy’s Ru brought the Indochinese refugee Beirut in May 2016. They are admitted as government- movement into sharp focus for the first time in decades.4 Tassisted refugees (GARs), privately sponsored refugees (PSRs), The guest editors of this special issue met for the first and Blended Visa Officer-ReferredBVOR ( ), a category where time in 2012. Mike Molloy was giving a series of lectures at the UNHCR selects the refugees for resettlement and the Ontario universities on the occasion of the 40th anniver- Canadian government and private sponsors share the costs sary of the Ugandan Asian refugee movement of 1972. His and commitment for settlement of the refugees in Canada.1 host at York University’s Centre for Refugee Studies was the The historical precedent for Canada’s Syrian program took acting director, James C. Simeon. When Simeon learned place forty years ago when 60,000 refugees from Vietnam, that Molloy and a group of colleagues from the Canadian Cambodia, and Laos were admitted. These included 25,978 Immigration Historical Society (CIHS)5 were working on GARs, and 32,281 under the newly launched private spon- a book—Running on Empty: Canada and the Indochinese sorship program. An additional 1,790 were sponsored by Refugee Movement 1975–1980 (McGill-Queen’s University relatives in Canada.2 Press, Spring 2017)—he suggested that CRS and CIHS host It is not entirely serendipitous that, as shocking images a conference on the refugees from former Indochina. The from the Mediterranean motivated Canadians to press their conference took place in November 2013 at York University government to react to the needs of the Syrians in 2015 and and heard the testimonies of Vietnamese, Sino-Vietnamese, 2016, Canada’s response to the Indochinese refugees in 1979 Cambodian, and Laotian refugees. Individually and collec- and 1980 was cited as a model to emulate.3 In the past three tively, these speakers reflected on the processes of becoming years, a series of academic and public events have focused on refugees, their arrivals in Canada, their first encounters the movement of refugees from former Indochina, includ- with sponsors, and their long-term adaptation to life in ing events across the country in 2015 that commemorated Canada. The conference also included panels of former visa the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the start of the officers, media representatives, political leaders, community movement of Indochinese refugees to Canada. In addition, activists, and coordinators as well as academics. Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian groups organized an Preparation for the 2013 conference revealed a surpris- event in Ottawa recognizing the anniversary of the award- ing lack of academic attention to Canada’s Indochinese ing of the Nansen Medal to the people of Canada. The release refugee movement, given its magnitude, its impact,6 and

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the enormous barriers that confronted refugees in adapting University, the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian to and integrating into Canada. W. Courtland Robinson’s Museum Association, Pier 21, and CIHS, among others, on Terms of Refuge7 provides a thorough examination of the an ambitious project called “Hearts of Freedom” to collect refugee crisis and the international response but touches artifacts and 200 oral histories and produce a documen- on the Canadian effort only briefly. Howard Adelman’s tary and public history book. Involvement of the Canadian Canada and the Indochinese Refugees8 remains a relevant Museum of History has positioned community leaders to examination of the policy choices of the government and argue successfully that, when the Canadian History Gal- how Canadian civil society responded but contains little lery is opened next year, the arrival of the “boat people” on the overseas operation. Having been published in 1982, and other Indochinese refugees will be part of the exhibit. the book came too early to describe the challenges that Complementary initiatives are underway or contemplated newcomers faced in adapting to a country so vastly differ- in Montreal and Toronto. ent from their own. Lawrence Lam’s Vietnamese-Chinese This special issue of Refuge covers three broad areas deal- Refugees in Montreal: Long-Term Settlement (1985)9 makes ing with the Indochinese refugee movement in Canada: the a useful contribution in this regard, as does his From Being human experiences and memories of the refugees that led to Uprooted to Surviving: Resettlement of Vietnamese-Chinese their flight from their homelands and their ongoing settle- “Boat People” in Montreal, 19801990 (1996).10 And Doreen ment within Canada; Canadian refugee policies that shaped Indra’s “Southeast Asian Refugee Resettlement: A Research the Indochinese refugee movement in specific ways and how Bibliography,” (1984)11 makes a useful contribution in listing they have subsequently evolved; and how the mayor of one the most helpful sources available. Canadian city mobilized his fellow citizens to receive Indo- A decade after the refugees arrived there was a spate of chinese refugees almost two years before the rest of Canada. studies on how the refugees had fared in different parts of Priscilla Koh’s article examines the recollections of six Canada. Anh Ngo, one of the authors in this special issue, Vietnamese Canadians from different regions of Vietnam. identified 85 scholarly works in a search of social sciences Their accounts reveal a rich diversity of experiences covering websites.12 Among these, Morton Beiser’s Strangers at the efforts to accommodate to the new Communist regime; the Gate: The “Boat People’s” First Ten Years in Canada13 is conditions that triggered decisions to escape and the con- perhaps the strongest, but it focuses exclusively on British sequent splitting of families; the boat experiences—smooth Columbia. Ten Years Later: Indochinese Communities in sailing and terrifying; life in the refugee camps where rob- Canada14 and Uprooting, Loss and Adaptation: The Resettle- bery, rape and murder were not uncommon but where kind- ment of Indochinese Refugees in Canada15 provide insights ness and mutual assistance were part of the experience as into Vietnamese, Sino-Vietnamese, Cambodian and Lao- well; the decision to come to Canada and the post-arrival tian communities in different parts of the country. There struggles. In some cases those interviewed managed to find is no overarching study that covers the experience of these employment, obtain university degrees, and pursue profes- refugees Canada-wide, and little academic work seems to sional careers. Others were not so fortunate and struggled have been done since the 1990s. for years. The value of studies like Koh’s is that they remind The 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon in April 2015 us of the human experiences of fleeing oppression and seek- was marked by events across the country to recall the loss ing asylum and that within each population displacement and suffering of the refugee experiences, acknowledge the there are myriad individual experiences. welcome they received in Canada, and celebrate the rebuild- Anh Ngo’s article delves deeper into the human experi- ing of lives here. The anniversary provided an occasion for ence with an examination of the barriers, divisions, and the proclamation by Parliament on 30 April 2015 of a bill tensions within the Vietnamese community in Toronto. championed by Senator Thanh Hai Ngo designating 30 Sources of discord include intergroup differences stemming April as Journey to Freedom Day, despite opposition of the from war and displacement, mediated identities of region, Vietnamese government and parts of the Canadian Viet- class, and the different waves of arrivals. She examines dis- namese community.16 courses about the Vietnamese as “legitimate,” “productive,” In June 2016, the Vietnamese Canadian Federation, Cam- and “inassimilable” refugees before discussing the results bodian Association of the Ottawa Valley, and the Laotian of a study involving focus groups and in-depth interviews Association of the Ottawa Valley came together to organ- delving into the frictions that exist within the community. ize an event in Ottawa to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ngo highlights the problems faced by refugees from former the awarding of the Nansen Medal to the people of Canada North Vietnam and a tendency within the community to for their efforts on behalf of refugees. Individuals from disparage later arrivals as “economic” refugees as opposed these three organizations are collaborating with Carleton to the “genuine refugees” of the earlier arrivals. Her study

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demonstrates the heterogeneity—and at times divisions— Resettlement, the Global Consultations, etc.) and the poli- within populations that are too often outwardly perceived cies and practices that emerged to reinforce UNHCR leader- in group terms. ship. He identifies the Canadian role helping to shape UNHCR In the next paper Anna N. Vu and Vic Satzewich provide policies and initiatives and traces parallel developments in insights into the roles and perceptions of NGO settlement Canada, including the fundamental changes implemented workers in refugee camps in Southeast Asia in the late 1970s through the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). and early 1980s. On the basis of interviews and information Robert C. Batarseh’s contribution covers the same gathered from 14 former settlement workers, Satzewich period, but with a focus on definitions and the evolution and Vu examined the role of these “meso-level” workers of contemporary group-processing practices employed in in assisting refugees to navigate the selection systems of partnership by UNHCR, Canada, and other resettlement Western countries of resettlement. According to settlement countries. He describes Canadian experimentation with workers interviewed for the study, refugees presented their alternatives to the UN Convention Refugee definition going situations to national resettlement officials in ways intended back to the Oppressed Minority Policy of the early 1970s, to maximize their chances of acceptance, based in part on the three designated classes that emerged from the 1976 rumours about which refugees were successful and why, as Immigration Act and successor categories rooted in the well as advice, not always reliable, from friends and families IRPA. Batarseh describes Canada’s role in revitalizing reset- already in resettlement countries. The authors conclude tlement within UNHCR in the early 2000s. Perhaps the most that the experience of working with refugees had reciprocal interesting part of the this article is his description of how benefits for workers and refugees alike and that the workers concerns about pull factors, fraud, and security along with were profoundly changed by the experience. resource constraints has led UNHCR and the resettlement The three next articles take the Indochinese refugee countries to a resettlement model that seeks out homog- program as a point of departure and then follow three dis- enous and self-contained groups of refugees that can be tinct but complementary vectors to the present. Michael efficiently group processed, skipping time-consuming indi- Casasola examines how Canadian and UNHCR resettlement vidual refugees’ status determination. policies were affected by the Indochinese refugee experi- While Batarseh follows the impact of the definitional ence and how they have alternatively diverged and con- innovations that Canada pioneered in the Indochinese verged over the succeeding decades. Robert C. Batarseh program, Shauna Labman examines how the Canadian looks at the Indochinese Designated Class Regulation the private sponsorship program, launched just as the Indochi- government implemented on the eve of the 197980 reset- nese exodus reached crisis proportion, has fared over the tlement program, how it was later modified to bring it into past 40 years. The viability of the sponsorship program is compliance with the Comprehensive Plan of Action, and not merely a parochial concern: Canadian sponsors have how it foreshadowed current UNHCR and Canadian group provided quality, durable solutions for an estimated 225,000 processing practices. Shauna Labman discusses how the refugees since the program was launched in 1978. Conceived foundational “additionality” principle, which held that as a complementary partnership, sponsorship, according to privately sponsored refugees would be admitted over and Labman, plays out as a “tug-of-war between the conflicting above the government’s refugee resettlement commitments, interests of government and sponsors over selection control has been eroded over the years. and numbers.” When the program was first marketed to the Michael Casasola’s article characterizes the resettlement churches and the voluntary sector, the notion of “addition- of Indochinese refugees as a defining movement for refugee ality” was central: privately sponsored refugees would be resettlement internationally and for Canada. Almost two admitted over and above government refugee targets and, million Indochinese were resettled between 1975 and 1997 therefore, would increase the overall Canadian contribu- from countries of first asylum and through orderly depar- tion. In addition, sponsors would be free to choose their ture programs. Two innovations shaped the Canadian refugees by name or group. Labman documents a series response: the Indochinese Designated Class that simplified of experiments where the government and sponsors payed the selection process, and the private refugee sponsorship varying proportions of the first-year settlement costs. She program, which engaged tens of thousands of Canadians then explores the erosion of the bedrock additionality prin- in helping new arrivals to adjust and greatly increased the ciple, particularly under the Harper government, includ- number of refugees Canada was willing to resettle. Casasola ing blurring the distinction between the two streams and describes the evolution of UNHCR’s post-Indochinese reset- the imposition of more complicated rules and procedures. tlement policy and the institutions (e.g., the Working Group Particularly troubling for sponsors was a pattern of min- on Resettlement and Annual Tripartite Consultations on isters announcing international commitments with heavy

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implications for the sponsors without prior consultation. decade later in studies by Yuen-Fong Woon and Beiser. How much of this was driven by ideology and how much More work could be done on this issue.20 by severe budget constraints and soaring settlement costs In addition, there has been little attention to the fact that is unclear, but given the recent change in government, this a very high proportion of refugees were Sino-Vietnamese article is most timely. (30 per cent of the 60,000 identified with a Chinese mother In the final article, Giovanna Roma describes how a few tongue21) and it would be fascinating to know, four decades pieces of scattered documentation enabled her to recon- later, the extent to which they maintain a distinct identity struct a forgotten piece of important Canadian refugee his- or have perhaps assimilated in the larger Canadian Chinese tory. The evidence reveals that in the summer of 1977, two community. full years before the establishment of Operation Lifeline and The locations of the private sponsors and deliberate des- Project 4000, the mayor of Windsor, Ontario, established tining decisions by the Immigration Department between a committee of civic leaders and activist clergy to sponsor 1979 and 1980 ensured that the refugees who came were Vietnamese “boat people.” Before there was even a formal spread across the country as never before, including small private sponsorship program, the mayor’s committee had towns and rural communities. As early as 1980 officials were reached out to the visa office in Singapore and was receiving reporting a significant degree of secondary migration from refugees, including from the famous Hai Hong. This local smaller towns and rural areas in the direction of Canada’s initiative had a surprisingly far-flung impact. largest cities. This would continue.22 However not all moved This special issue of Refuge was conceived as a vehicle on, and in an era when smaller Canadian towns and com- for stimulating scholarship about the Indochinese refugee munities are desperate to attract and retain population, it movement and its consequences. It is important to recall that would be fascinating to understand the reasons and factors when Saigon fell in 1975, Canada’s refugee resettlement pro- that caused some to remain in the smaller communities. grams had been open to non-Europeans for only five years It would be interesting to document how each of the and the intake of refugees from non-traditional sources Indochinese refugee communities has organized itself 228 Tibetans, 100 Chinese from Hong Kong, approximately within Canada. As we note above, and some of the contrib- 7,000 Asians expelled from Uganda17 (virtually all of the last utors have done in their articles, these communities have were fluent English speakers)—was rather modest. The deci- been very active in the celebrations that have marked the sion to admit 50,000 refugees fleeing by sea, and overland 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and mobilizing to get refugees from camps in Thailand, few of whom had ties in official recognition of 30 April as the annual day in Canada Canada, was and is remarkable. The rough and ready assess- to mark the Journey to Freedom Day for all those who have ment of these refugees’ capacities in English and French sought asylum in Canada. done by the visa officers in Southeast Asia, based simply It is remarkable to note that there has been as little on whether an interpreter had to be used during interview, scholarship on the Indochinese refugee movement, the gives a hint of the challenge these newcomers would face: single largest and perhaps the most successful resettlement English speakers 4.3 per cent; French speakers 2.5 per cent; program in Canadian history. This special issue of Refuge, English and French 1.4 per cent; neither 91.8 per cent.18 we hope, will serve as a primer for further research on this Following the Indochinese, refugees from non-European most fascinating humanitarian effort on the part of both the sources would become the rule rather than the exception, people of Canada and all levels of government in welcoming so we would argue that the experiences of this large and some 60,000 Indochinese refugees in such a short period to highly varied movement has lessons to teach us far beyond their country. A public policy initiative of this magnitude the impressions gathered at the end of the first decade or so, required bold political leadership, a dedicated public service both about the adaptation experiences of the refugees and that was willing to brave harsh and even hostile conditions the efficatcy of Canada’s dual-track resettlement system. at times, and a galvanized Canadian public that wanted to One frequently hears that the private sponsorship pro- assist. It was a remarkable period that reminds us of what we gram is superior to the government program.19 By the end of are capable of in the humanitarian field when we are com- 1980, the task force set up to manage the admission of the 50, mitted to assist those in need of refuge from persecution. then 60,000 refugees was receiving anecdotal indications The Indochinese refugee movement has come to serve as to the contrary—the monthly allowance the government- a model for how to respond to our present-day refugee cri- assisted refugees received from the government and the sis that is unfolding in the Mediterranean Sea and in other independence (and privacy) it brought was highly valued parts of the world at unprecedented levels. Now, the new and envied by the sponsored refugees. This was noted a “boat people,” predominantly Syria refugees, are seeking

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refuge from protracted armed conflict that has resulted in a dramatic impact on the outcome of the election. For some 470,000 killed and over 4.2 million displaced.23 instance, see John Iverson, “Migrant Crisis Is Suddenly Our hope is that this collection will demonstrate how the the Biggest Issue in the Election Campaign—and Harper Indochinese refugee movement has left its indelible stamp Is on the High Wire,” National Post, 3 September 2015, on Canadian society. But, equally, it has afforded Canada http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/john-ivison- migrant-crisis-suddenly-the-biggest-issue-in-the-elec- the opportunity to build on what has come before in reset- tion-campaign-and-harpers-on-the-high-wire. “Election tlement programs. We hope that this special issue of Refuge Primer: Four Things to Know before You Vote,” Globe will shine further light and provide additional understand- and Mail, 16 October 2015, http://www.theglobeandmail. ing for the key elements and aspects of the Indochinese com/news/politics/canada-and-the-refugee-crisis-four- refugee movement that will prove helpful for forging future things-to-know-before-youvote/article26363975/. For the humanitarian refugee resettlement programs in Canada federal election results, see Elections Canada, 19 October and abroad. 2015, Election Results, http://enr.elections.ca/National. aspx?lang=e. 4 See, for instance, the Canadian Immigration Historical Notes Society, “Fortieth Anniversary of the Indochinese Refu- 1 Jacquie Miller, “By the Numbers: Privately-Sponsored ver- gee Movement in Canada,” http://cihs-shic.ca/indochina/. sus Government-Sponsored Refugees,” Ottawa Citizen, 26 5 www.cihs.shic.ca. February 2016, http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ 6 Canada’s Vietnamese community today numbers some by-the-numbers-privately-sponsored-and-government- 300,000. sponsored-refugees. See the Government of Canada web- 7 W. Courtland Robinson, Terms of Refuge: The Indochinese site at Blended Visa Officer-Referred Program: Sponsoring Exodus and the International Response (London: Zed Refugees, http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/sponsor/ Books, 1998). vor.asp. See also Michaela Hynie and Jennifer Hyndman, 8 Howard Adelman, Canada and the Indochinese Refugees “From Newcomer to Canadian: Making Refugee Integra- (Regina: L. A. Weigl Educational Associates, 1982). tion Work; Human Settlement Must Involve Creating the 9 Lawrence Lam, Vietnamese Chinese Refugees in Mont- Right Conditions for Refugees to Be Integrated into Their real: Long-Term Settlement (Downsview, ON: University New Communities,” Policy Options Politique, 17 May 2016, of Toronto–York University Joint Centre on Modern East http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2016/from- Asia Canada and the Pacific Programme, 1985). newcomer-to-canadian-making-refugee-integration- 10 Lawrence Lam, From Being Uprooted to Surviving: Resettle- work/. ment of Vietnamese-Chinese “Boat People” in Montreal, 2 Employment and Immigration Canada, Indochinese Refu- 1980–1990 (Toronto: York Lanes, 1996). gees: The Canadian Response, 1979 and 1980 (Ottawa: Min- 11 Doreen Indra, “Southeast Asian Resettlement in Canada: ister of Supply and Services Canada, 1982), 20. A Research Bibliography” (Ottawa: Canadian Asian Stud- 3 Peter Goodspeed, Atkinson Series, “Can Canada Dupli- ies Association, Carleton University, 1984), Forced Migra- cate Its Boat People Rescue with the Syrian Refugees?” the- tion Online Digital Library, repository.forcedmigration. star.com, 26 September 2014, https://www.thestar.com/ org/pdf/?pid=fmo:2166. news/atkinsonseries/2014/09/26/can_canada_duplicate_ 12 Ngo consulted Social Services Abstracts, Sociological its_boat_people_rescue_with_syrian_refugees.html. Abstracts, PyschINFO, and Applied Social Sciences Index Judy Trinh, “Vietnamese Boat People of More Than Three and Abstracts. Articles in these sources cover the period Decades Ago Now Thriving, Proud Canadians; Drowned 1970 to 2016. Syrian Boy ‘Could Have Been You,’ Sino-Vietnamese 13 Morton Bieser, Strangers at the Gate: The “Boat People’s” Mom Tells CBC Ottawa Reporter Judy Trinh,” CBCNews, First Ten Years in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Ottawa, 11 September 2015, http://www.cbc.ca/news/ Press, Scholarly Publishing Division, 1999). canada/ottawa/vietnamese-boat-people-of-more-than- 14 Kwok B. Chan, Louis-Jacques Dorais, and Doreen Marie 3-decades-ago-now-thriving-proud-canadians-1.3223505; Indra, eds., Ten Years Later: Indochinese Communities in New America Media: Immigration, “Déjà Vu: Syrian and Canada (Montreal: Canadian Asian Studies Association, Indochinese Refugee Movements,” accessed 14 June 2016, 1988). http://newamericamedia.org/2016/02/deja-vu-syrian-and- 15 Kwok B. Chan and Doreen Marie Indra, eds., Uprooting, indochinese-refugee-movements.php. See the Canadian Loss and Adaptation: The Resettlement of Indochinese Immigration Historical Society, CIHS Bulletin 73-A, April Refugees in Canada (Ottawa: Canadian Public Health 2015, “The Indochinese Movement: Fortieth Anniversary,” Association, 1987). http://cihs-shic.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bulletin- 16 Journey to Freedom Day Act, S.C. 2015, c. 14, Assented to 73-a-2.pdf. It is also worth noting that this occurred in 2015-04-23, http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/J-0.9/ the midst of the 2015 federal election campaign and had page-1.html. See also Office of the Honourable Senator

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Thanh Hai Ngo, “Journey to Freedom Day Act,” http:// Canada, Canada’s Ethnic Group Series booklet no. 28 senatorngo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Full-Binder_ (Ottawa: Canadian Historical Association, 2000), 11. Journey-to-Freedom-Day-Act.pdf. 23 UNHCR Syria, Reporting Team Damascus, Syria, Protecting 17 Employment and Immigration Canada, Indochinese Refu- and Supporting the Displaced in Syria: UNHCR Syria End of gees, 32. Year Report 2015, www.unhcr.org/56cad5a99.pdf. See also 18 Ibid., 24. Anne Barnard, “Death Toll from the War in Syria Now 19 “Why So Many Canadians Privately Sponsor Syrian 470,000, Group Finds,” New York Times, 11 February 2016, Refugees,” Economist, 3 March 2016, http://www.econo- http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/world/middleeast/ mist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2016/03/economist- death-toll-from-war-in-syria-now-470000-group-finds explains-2. “Research indicates that privately-sponsored .html. refugees become more successful than their government- sponsored counterparts or asylum seekers who arrive under their own steam, perhaps because they have a sup- Michael J. Molloy is president of the Canadian Immigration port group from the moment they arrive.” Historical Society and an honorary senior fellow at the Uni- 20 Yuen-Fong Woon in Chan and Indra, Ten Years Later, 141; versity of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and Interna- and Bieser, Strangers at the Gate, 121. tional Affairs. He can be contacted at joandmikeca@yahoo 21 Employment and Immigration Canada, Indochinese Refu- .com. gees, 23. 22 J. D. Love, deputy minister/chairman, Employment and James C. Simeon is associate professor in the School of Public Immigration Canada, “Indochinese Refugee Program: Policy and Administration, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Pro- 1980–81,” 4 September 1980, file 8700-1 pt. 3, vol. 1836, RG fessional Studies at York University. He can be contacted at 76, Library and Archives Canada. See also Louis-Jacques [email protected]. Dorais, The Cambodians, Laotians and Vietnamese in

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